AI amplifies creativity, doesn't replace it, says Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen

New Delhi: At the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, held at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen delivered a keynote address titled Design, Media, and Creativity in the Age of AI, emphasising that India’s next economic boom will be fueled by creativity rather than traditional software or manufacturing. 

The four-day summit, which kicked off on May 1, brought together global leaders, creators, and innovators to explore the convergence of technology, media, and entertainment, positioning India as a global creative powerhouse.

He outlined a four-pronged strategy for India to lead the AI-powered creative revolution: supercharging creativity and production, innovating business models, building an AI-skilled workforce, and fostering entrepreneurship. ​

Narayen, an India-born executive, underscored the transformative potential of India’s creative economy, driven by over 100 million content creators and 500 million OTT (over-the-top) consumers. “India’s next phase of economic growth will be driven by creativity, not code,” he declared, highlighting the role of generative AI in reshaping storytelling, content creation, and digital production. 

He described India as “the world’s next creative superpower,” citing a 10% annual growth in freelance creatives and small design studios over the past decade.

In his address, Narayen showcased Adobe’s Firefly AI models, which enable creators to produce hyper-localised, culturally rich content at scale. He emphasised that AI is not a job displacer but an enabler, stating, “AI is not replacing creativity; it is amplifying it.” Tools like Firefly assist regional creators with tasks such as dubbing content, stylising videos, and accelerating post-production in local languages, aligning with the growing demand for region-specific material.

A key highlight of Narayen’s keynote was Adobe’s commitment to fostering India’s creative infrastructure. He announced strategic collaborations with WAVES Bazaar, the Indian Institution of Creative Technology, Accenture, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Interactive to bolster creative and educational ecosystems. Adobe also unveiled an ambitious initiative to train over 20 million Indians and 500,000 educators in digital creativity by providing free access to its creative tools. “India’s next wave of economic expansion will be rooted not in code, but in creativity,” Narayen affirmed.

Narayen also addressed ethical AI development, a pressing concern in the global creative industry. He highlighted Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative, which ensures digital content is verifiably attributed, and noted that Firefly models are trained exclusively on licensed content. “Protecting intellectual property is not just a feature, it’s a philosophy,” he said, positioning India to lead the global conversation on ethical AI practices.

Narayen’s remarks also highlighted the economic potential of India’s creative sector, predicting it could surpass manufacturing in job creation. “The next unicorns won’t be applications; they’ll be creators and artists,” he said, pointing to the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector as a key contributor to GDP and exports.